The Frames

Despite six studio LPs under their belts, the Frames remain one of the most underrated bands to come out of Dublin. But if any album were going to attract the hearts of the masses, it would be this one. The booming crescendos and spine-chilling orchestration that steer Glen Hansard's cathartic wails could bring even melancholy masters like Coldplay to their knees. The Cost highlights the Frames' grandiose charm in a crisp package that plays like a therapy session -- opening with earnest confessionals and liberating anthems and closing with comforting, slow-burning ballads.

The sixth album from this Irish quintet is a sad song cycle full of slow tempos, violin and
guitar arrangements and narcotic tunes. A handful of cuts, including "Sad Songs," are lovely
and then some. But the album slides into tedium and worse: Songs like "Falling Slowly" pile
on the melodrama, and "Bad Bone" is sleepy enough to make the Frames' fellow brooding
Irishman Damien Rice seem like Howie Mandel.